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Mayor reports rising sales-tax revenue, urges reserve rebuilding and careful capital planning
Summary
The mayor told the council that combined sales and use tax revenues have improved versus recent years, recommended building unallocated reserves back up while pursuing cautious capital funding strategies for streets and drainage, and described potential financing options including limited borrowing against bond revenues.
During the mayor's report, the mayor said the city's combined revenue from sales, use and tobacco taxes has increased over recent years and that current receipts are "$959,002.76" for the reporting period. He pointed to a multi-year trend in the packet showing growth from earlier years and noted the city is seeing new businesses that could materially increase sales-tax receipts in future years.
The mayor said the city should rebuild unallocated reserves (which he described as having been about $1.2 million in prior years and currently "300 or something" remaining) and keep operating budgets relatively flat while setting aside capital funds for specific uses such as range maintenance for the police or facilities. He described exploring financing options for multimillion-dollar street projects with BOK Financial, and said the city prefers not to issue a new bond or increase the sales-tax rate at this time.
Councilmembers asked questions about timing for formal budget presentation; the mayor said he expected general-fund numbers from finance staff within a few weeks and noted staff would return with a more concrete budget for council review and potential adoption at a future meeting.
